Veteran Richmond star Brett Deledio has paid a glowing tribute to his Tiger teammates Dustin Martin and Alex Rance for the excellent form they both displayed in season 2016.

Martin won his inaugural Jack Dyer Medal, was selected in the All Australian team for the first time, finished third in the AFL Coaches Association’s Player of the Year award and third in the AFL Players’ Association’s Most Valuable Player award.

Rance gained All-Australian selection for the third year in-a-row, was runner-up to Martin in the Jack Dyer Medal and finished third in the AFLPA’s Most Courageous Player award.

Deledio was blown away by what Martin managed to produce on such a consistent basis throughout the season.

“I remember playing in games with him and at half-time you’d see him already on 19 or 20 touches.  And then, by the end of the game, you look up in the last quarter and he’s on nearly 40,” Deledio said on RSN.

“He just gets so much of the ball.  His work in close was so much improved, and his ability to break tackles . . . I think I saw a stat that he’s broken the most tackles ever, for someone playing the game . . .  

“It just goes to show how good those two players (Martin and Rance) were in a trying year for us.

“They were the two stand-outs and shining lights for us, and something that we can hang our hat on and say, well, those two blokes tried their best and if we can get the rest of us coming along for the ride and working as hard as they obviously do, they’ll only play better footy with a better team around them again.”